My resource material states "Perhaps the reason why David Selznick never managed to acquire the services of Cooper or Flynn or Coleman as Rhett Butler was that he secretly suspected that no one but Gable could play the role." (p. 26) Of course, it helped that millions of Americans felt the same way.

Clark Gable was born in Czdiz, Ohio to an oil driller and his delicate wife. After two years of high school, Gable joined a local theatre group after moving to Arkon. He landed in Hollywood in the midst of the silent era, and appeared as an extra in a few MGM films. Eventually, it was the stage that brought him to Hollywood's attention -- "His riviting performance as the doomed gangster in The Last Mile on the Los Angeles stage impressed Lionel Barrymore, who brought Gable to the attention of the Metro Brass." (p. 26)

Within a year, Gable appeared with Joan Crawford in Possessed, then Greta Garbo in Susan Lenox, and Norma Shearer in A Free Soul. His performance opposite the elegant Miss Shearer captured female audiences across the country.

When sound made its debut in Hollywood, Gable easily made the transition. His voice captivated female audiences as much as his good looks.

"Few of Gable's films have been cited as examples of great filmic achievement, yet Gable amassed a huge following. In films like Call of the Wild, Test Piolet, San Francisco, and Idiot's Delight, Gable continued to delight the moviegoer. He conveyed a cynical manliness that appealed to men and women alike.

"It was probably beyond Gable to achieve the subtlety of a fine artist who can play many different roles. Oscar Wilde observed that people like an artist who keeps painting the same picture because they can immediately recognize his work and therefore feel like connoisseurs. In much the same way, movie audiences enjoyed seeing Gable play virtually the same role year after year." (p. 26- 27)

Gable knew agonies on the set, being shy and self-conscious. MGM's publicity department had the task of hiding his uncertainties, for had they been widely known, it would have damaged his box-office potential.

Gable had support for his macho image in Victor Fleming, the director who would later help him through Gone With the Wind.

The 30's were busy for Gable. He won an Oscar for It Happened One Night (1934 - with Claudette Colbert) and then starred in Mutiny on the Bounty. After that, he was cast opposite Rosalind Russel in China Seas, and was loaded to Darryl Zanuck for Jack London's Call of the Wild.

"By the time David Selznick had bought the rights to Margaret Mitchell's bestseller, he was to find that only Clark Gable could play Rhett Butler. The public would not be denied. If the motorcycle-riding, cigar-chewing, hunting, loving, fighting, daring actor was not the blockade-running rogue that Margaret Mitchell had created, the public saw them as one. A long chain of films, supported by the MGM publicity mill, had done its work. Gable was Rhett and Rhett was Gable and that was that." (p. 27-28)

But Gable said "No". He had serious doubts about the demands of the role. He felt that the fans of Margaret Mitchell's novel had their own ideas about Rhett Butler, and he could not bring himself to displease so many people.

The role had a lot of dramatic requirements, as well. MGM had observed Gable's insecurities about his acting, and had chosen role for him that were short on sensitivity and long on action. They had handpicked directors with the same masculine qualities. But Gone With the Wind would require more than Gable had ever been asked to deliver.

Another factor in his refusal was the choice of the director. "Selznick had already chosen George Cukor as his director, a man of sensitivity who was known in Hollywood as 'a woman's director'. Gable feared that Cukor's attention would be focused on Scarlett and Melanie, and that Rhett Butler would be left to shift for himself." (p. 35-36)

Gable liked Victor Fleming as a director. Fleming had directed him already in Test Piolet. Fleming was an outdoorsman, who liked horses, fast cars and women. He was the type of man after Gable's own heart.

"Beyond the subtleties of the character and his doubts about the director, there was one other aspect of GWTW that troubled Gable. A year before, after a string of unparalleled hits, Clark Gable had made a potboiler. The film was Parnell and it was a costume drama. As Parnell, the Irish revolutionary, Gable wore costumes that were uncomfortably similar to those of Captain Rhett Butler." (p. 36)

But still, with all these doubts, there was a very good reason to play the role of Rhett when it was offered to him: Carole Lombard.

Clark Gable had fallen in love with a comedienne named Carole Lombard and their lengthy love affair was known throughout the industry. Gable wanted to divorce his second wife, Rhea Langham Gable, but she would not hear of it. Louis B. Mayer of MGM had encouraged Rhea Gable to up her demands to an exorbitant level, unbeknownst to Gable. She demanded $625,000 as a divorce settlement, which was a high price to pay for love and freedom. "Mayer magnanimously agreed to give Gable a $100,000 bonus for playing Rhett, a sum that would soften the pain of the hefty settlement. Gable reluctantly agreed, and the perfect actor met the perfect role." (p. 38)

The deal had its rewards -- Gable was free to marry Lombard, and he wasted no time in doing it. "Avoiding the extravagant nuptials that Mayer preferred for his two superstars, Gable and Lombard drove to the small town of Kingman, Arizona." (p. 38) Selznick had graciously given them two full days for their honeymoon. GWTW was already before the camera.

And thusly, history was made. Clark Gable became our Rhett Butler, and the result: GONE WITH THE WIND!!!